“There is nothing so fretting and vexatious, nothing so justly terrible to tyrants, and their tools and abettors, as a free press,” Samuel Adams said.
I am amused by letters accusing the Herald of being part of the “liberal media.” As the Herald’s special sections editor more than 10 years ago, I would also find letters accusing the paper of being “right-wing.” My take: The Herald must be doing something right as a member of the free press if the angry left and the angry right are getting themselves wrapped around the axle.
Of course, separating fact-based reportage from opinion has been a tough job since the British crown ruled America. Little has changed in more than 245 years with the deluge of conspiracies from the right-wing, fact-free gasbags. Which makes fact-checking crucial.
The astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson reminds us of the importance of “objective truth,” which is, by definition, true, whether you believe it or not.
David OhmanDurango
